Local heroes

Its starting to look a lot like Christmas (16)

City Fire Station

From the street the old fire station building looks quite small, I had no idea what was behind the facade. The old engines are part of the historical exhibits from the Museum of Fire and were relocated to the Station for Sydney Open.

A rare example of Victorian free classical architecture, the design of the fire station was considered innovative for its time and included features drawn from the experience of the London Metropolitan Fire Brigade. An adjacent brick warehouse (know as the Boot Factory) was purchased in 1923, and the interior converted for a gymnasium, carpentry shop, workshops and dormitory. In 1907 the original building was extended along Castlereagh Street to the north and in 1928 an enlarged fleet of motorised appliances necessitated the ground floor's conversion into two engine bays.

The need for a new and enlarged fire station was identified as early as 1934 yet, despite numerous proposals, the project was not progressed. In July 1999 an application was lodged with City of Sydney Council for works comprising refurbishment, adaptive reuse and new accommodation. Construction of the new station was completed in February 2003 and restoration of the 1887 building and stonework commenced the following month.

Thunderbirds are Go

This is Thunderbird 1, one of the Hyde Park street sweepers.

WYD

Preparations for World Youth Day (to be held in Sydney from 15 to 20 July) are now in full swing. From early last week marquees were being erected in Hyde Park, which will be closed to ordinary pedestrian access for much of WYD week. The whole event will cause a great deal of inconvenience and annoyance to many city workers, especially those in the immediate vicinity of St Mary's Cathedral, and as most of the little darlings are being housed and fed by the various Catholic dioceses, do very little for the city in terms of income. Don't think of showing your annoyance, either. Under the new regulations introduced in time for WYD, people who refuse to stop engaging in conduct that causes annoyance or inconvenience to pilgrims can be arrested and fined up to $5,500. So much for free speech.

Keep it clean

I was rather surprised to see a city council worker washing down the outside of a garbage bin. Not something I've seen before in the city (or anywhere else).